In 2021 and 2022, American Airlines was focused on turning Austin-Bergstrom Airport (AUS) into a focus city. While the airline previously primarily flew to American hubs from Austin, American’s network out of the city has grown to over three dozen destinations, ranging from Cancun, to Orange County, to Tampa. That growth is finally being reversed, in a major way.
In this post:
American canceling most Austin routes
American Airlines has just loaded a major schedule change, whereby the airline is massively cutting its network out of Austin as of early 2024 (this was first flagged by @AdrianWaltz). With these changes, we’re seeing service cut from Austin to the following destination (with the last date of service also listed):
- Albuquerque (ABQ) flights end as of February 14, 2024
- Bozeman (BZN) flights end as of January 6, 2024
- Cincinnati (CVG) flights end as of January 7, 2024
- Cozumel (CZM) flights end as of January 6, 2024
- Eagle-Vail (EGE) flights end as of February 10, 2024
- El Paso (ELP) flights end as of February 14, 2024
- Fort Myers (RSW) flights end as of February 14, 2024
- Jacksonville (JAX) flights end as of January 7, 2024
- Kansas City (MCI) flights end as of February 12, 2024
- Liberia (LIR) flights end as of April 2, 2024
- Memphis (MEM) flights end as of January 7, 2024
- Nassau (NAS) flights end as of March 30, 2024
- Oklahoma City (OKC) flights end as of February 12, 2024
- Puerto Vallarta (PVR) flights end as of April 3, 2024
- Punta Cana (PUJ) flights end as of March 30, 2024
- Reno (RNO) flights end as of January 7, 2024
- Sacramento (SMF) flights end as of February 12, 2024
- Tampa (TPA) flights end as of February 12, 2024
- Washington Dulles (IAD) flights end as of February 14, 2024
On top of that, planned routes to Destin-Fort Walton (VPS), Montego Bay (MBJ), and Tulsa (TUL), won’t even launch anymore.
This represents well over half of American’s destinations out of Austin. This leaves very little for American, beyond hub-to-hub flying. American will still fly from Austin to Boston (BOS), Cancun (CUN), Charlotte (CLT), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Las Vegas (LAS, Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), Orange County (SNA), Philadelphia (PHL), Phoenix (PHX), Raleigh (RDU), and a few other destinations.
Why is American pulling back so sharply from Austin?
For a while, Austin was one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, but that’s no longer the case, and the Austin “bubble” seems to be popping to some extent. For example, between July 2022 and July 2023, house prices in Austin dropped more than in any other major city, which isn’t a great sign in terms of growth.
This is only the latest bad news for Austin when it comes to aviation, as Virgin Atlantic recently announced it would discontinue flights to Austin, while British Airways is reducing flights to Austin this winter.
What do I make of American’s service cuts in Austin?
- Clearly American was banking on continued growth in Austin and wanted to get out ahead of the other major carriers, but that just hasn’t materialized the way the airline hoped
- Even as a focus city, Austin was heavily reliant on O&D traffic rather than connecting traffic, given that American’s Dallas hub is geographically quite close to Austin
- Much of American’s network out of Austin was operated by American Eagle regional jets, and I suspect those will be needed more in the Northeast, given that the Northeast Alliance between American and JetBlue has been discontinued
- It’s my understanding that American has been losing money on its Austin growth since the start, but then again, American is losing money on a lot of its flying
- On some level, it seems like American grew in Austin to try and prevent Delta from growing there, but it’s only worth losing money for so long
- This is only American’s latest failed strategy, just like American attempting to turn Seattle into a long haul hub; yet American insists that the reason the company is so undervalued is because management isn’t doing a good job telling its story…
Bottom line
American Airlines has loaded major schedule cuts at Austin Airport, as the airline will discontinue nearly two dozen routes at the airport. American is eliminating a majority of its routes that aren’t to other hubs, clearly marking the end of American’s Austin focus city experiment. This is one of the most significant reductions in service I ever recall seeing by a major airline at a focus city…
What do you make of American’s route cuts in Austin?
Another reason is that AA mainline pilots filed a grievance against American stating too many of the flights were operated by the American Eagle brand….. and they won their grievance….. so there goes the flights.
Many of their AUS connecting times were 2-3 hours. With few facilities. Why time them like that and expect any passengers?
AA needs to remember what made them so successful. Customer Service.
Once the “bean counters” took over the company” things have gone down.
I sat in a coach seat recently where the plastic stuff on the back of the seat in front of me was inches from my face. And my seat “reclined” no more than 2”.
When we go to Japan we ONLY fly JAL operated flights (and still get Aadvantage...
AA needs to remember what made them so successful. Customer Service.
Once the “bean counters” took over the company” things have gone down.
I sat in a coach seat recently where the plastic stuff on the back of the seat in front of me was inches from my face. And my seat “reclined” no more than 2”.
When we go to Japan we ONLY fly JAL operated flights (and still get Aadvantage points.).
I’ve been Aadvantage Gold for years but often Delta is getting a little more of our business.
Too bad the airlines are fighting to get more Greyhound bus passengers than business folks.
I've lived in Austin since 1985, and have seen massive growth over that timeframe. Based upon Austin's current size and demographic, I would expect that the O&D Traffic is there, but Bidenomics has crushed air travel in general. Long term (and with different leadership in the White House), I wouldn't bet against Austin.
Could you explain how the Biden Administration has crushed air travel? I've seen nothing but record profits for the air industry.
Pierre, He heard it from Fox news . Air travel is going gangbusters. Don't engage with the cult lol
My understanding is that AA has been pressured by its pilots union to stop flying so many regional jets to Austin and other cities that should qualify for mainline service.
I connected thru Austin in February and found the terminal very crowded. The gates might be there but you need more food sources for a hub.
I can’t find the source, so take this with a grain of salt. But I believe I read over the weekend that the real reason was that AA are in fact in breech with their own pilot collective bargaining agreement.
In there it says that any focus city or hub, 80% of the production must be mainline. Given the large proportion of regional jets, AA is breaking this in Austin.
> the Austin “bubble” seems to be popping to some extent. For example, between July 2022 and July 2023, house prices in Austin dropped more than in any other major city, which isn’t a great sign in terms of growth.
Is that really the case though? Austin has been building new housing one of the highest rates in the country, which is the primary reason that housing costs are dropping while population continues to grow....
> the Austin “bubble” seems to be popping to some extent. For example, between July 2022 and July 2023, house prices in Austin dropped more than in any other major city, which isn’t a great sign in terms of growth.
Is that really the case though? Austin has been building new housing one of the highest rates in the country, which is the primary reason that housing costs are dropping while population continues to grow. That's vital for a city's success, otherwise you end up with SF/LA where tiny 50 year old duplexes sell for $1 million or more, and as a result working class people are pushed far away from the places they work because only the affluent can afford a place near or in the city.
You completely overlook WN with a massive presence and packed planes out of AUS. Why?
AUS is a terrible airport. Airport ops are bad on a good day. Not enough gates for too many planes. Crowding in and outside. Accidents with planes and people speak for themselves. I am AA elite based in Texas and have gone out of my way to avoid anything that route me through AUS, including taking more expensive flights from smaller airports in ACT if needed. No reason to play in traffic just to wonder...
AUS is a terrible airport. Airport ops are bad on a good day. Not enough gates for too many planes. Crowding in and outside. Accidents with planes and people speak for themselves. I am AA elite based in Texas and have gone out of my way to avoid anything that route me through AUS, including taking more expensive flights from smaller airports in ACT if needed. No reason to play in traffic just to wonder if you will land 20 minutes early to taxi for 30 minutes and then park somewhere for 30 more (true story) while two planes are scheduled at the same gate and the other one gets to deplane first and fly out. These stories, while maybe not with such time gaps, are not unusual. Not worth it. BYE AUS!
The domestic airline industry is largely what economists call an 'oligopoly.' An oligopoly is an industry that has few competitors and one ironclad rule: "Never, never, NEVER compete on the basis of price." Compete on product quality or product features, but never on cost.
My favorite example of an oligopoly is the dry-cereal industry (e.g., Cheerios, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, etc.]. Anyone who doubts the power of an oligopoly should open a box of dry...
The domestic airline industry is largely what economists call an 'oligopoly.' An oligopoly is an industry that has few competitors and one ironclad rule: "Never, never, NEVER compete on the basis of price." Compete on product quality or product features, but never on cost.
My favorite example of an oligopoly is the dry-cereal industry (e.g., Cheerios, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, etc.]. Anyone who doubts the power of an oligopoly should open a box of dry cereal and look inside. One will see that the box is half-full, if that much.
American is pulling out of Austin because the demand for airline service is insufficient to support an oligopoly. It wants no part of having to compete on price because it knows that such competition is a race to the bottom of the ocean. . .and the divers are wearing cement wetsuits.
Warren D. Miller, CPA, CFA
Lexington, Virginia
Great article. As you pointed out, AA doesn’t have a strong track record for strategic direction. That goes back awhile, though. Building a hub in Nashville back in 1986 to compete with Delta’s ATL hub is yet another example.
Paul, bare in mind that AUS is quickly becoming a United hub. Is it not odd that AA would pull out at a time like this?
7 destinations is NOT a hub. The 7 destinations ARE UA hubs, but AUstiin is not. Please. Go back to posting about Montreal restaurants.
You've made some really strange claims over the last few days, and this one's no exception.
There's zero evidence that AUS "is NOT a hub".
@Eskimo - UA flies to 7 destinations. That does not make it a hub,
Dingus, I agree you have made some really strange claims over the past few days - "Go back to posting about Montreal restaurants", I'm sorry, WHAT!?! Are you okay?
I've lived this stuff and can tell you that in 5 years, AUS will be a United hub.
You wrote above that AUS is quickly becoming a UA hub. It's not. It serves other UA hubs. Now you say "in 5 years".
And stop with the childish names.
@Darryl - stop calling people names like "dink" (which is a slur) or "dingus".
You post comments that are completely unrelated (like about Montreal restaurants) and yet when someone else posts a related comment - about miles expiration dates in Ben's post about his favorite FF program you complain it is "unrelated". Grow up man.
Again - once more, real slow. UA flies to 7 other locations from AUS. 6 of which are UA hubs,...
@Darryl - stop calling people names like "dink" (which is a slur) or "dingus".
You post comments that are completely unrelated (like about Montreal restaurants) and yet when someone else posts a related comment - about miles expiration dates in Ben's post about his favorite FF program you complain it is "unrelated". Grow up man.
Again - once more, real slow. UA flies to 7 other locations from AUS. 6 of which are UA hubs, and the other is LAX. Austin is not now, and will not soon be, a UA hub. But you keep telling yourself that i 5 years it will be.
Agree with all your points but would clarify that LAX is a UA hub…
United has a fortress hub in Houston. Austin will never be a United hub.
The worst work environment with only 5 gates for utilization. Employees burnt out and over utilized. An employee even died on site in April.
"AA employees burnt out and over-utilized". LOL. They telling that to a Southwest employee and see what kind of laugh you get out of them. Can't wait until they invade DFW in 2025.
The leftist city government has caused Austin to fail.
^ No, but they sure have caused your brain to rot.
You are so right! Evil never wins!
I think you're lost, this isn't LALF you're on
How is this relevant? But while we're on the topic, care to explain how liberal Austin grew so fast for so long in the first place?
The vast majority of these deleted flights is via American Eagle.
Seems they can't get enough FedEx pilots to take the signing bonus with the AA regional.
No great loss!!
Most likely a Scope clause violation. AA trying to get back into compliance.
LOL, cute comment. But PSA (the actual regional that is getting the FedEx offers) is mainly based out of the MidWest & MidAtlantic. They don't fly in or out of Austin.
Despite what the article says, it appears the Reno flight also got the axe, last flight on Jan 5th, 24
Austin is an autonomous region within Texas. Y’all ain’t even Texas. ‘Merica !
Ben wants to fly BA club world for us. Availability must be wide open.
Re first sentence…
Not true. Austin is very liberal, but the home of the TX Red government, which is always trying to shut down the Austin city council.
Dallas (first black mayor in the state) and Houston (first lesbian mayor) are also very liberal.
Dallas and Houston are blue as any large urban city in the US is but I wouldn’t say ‘very liberal’ in comparison to Austin which is.
And that black mayor recently changed to a red Republican. Eventually common sense prevails.
@Leigh, your VERY wrong. Dallas and many other Major Texas cities have had NUMEROUS African American and LGBTQ leaders WELL before now. Your obviously ignorant to actually history.
1974 ~ Waco Texas, Oscar Du Conge
1995-2002 ~ Dallas Texas, Ron Kirk
2009 - Houston, Annise Parker
2009 - Kemp, Matthew Ganssle
1991 - Rep. Glen Maxey, (1st Gay)
2012 - Rep. Mary Gonzalez (1st Pansexual)
2004 - Lupe Valdez, Sheriff...
@Leigh, your VERY wrong. Dallas and many other Major Texas cities have had NUMEROUS African American and LGBTQ leaders WELL before now. Your obviously ignorant to actually history.
1974 ~ Waco Texas, Oscar Du Conge
1995-2002 ~ Dallas Texas, Ron Kirk
2009 - Houston, Annise Parker
2009 - Kemp, Matthew Ganssle
1991 - Rep. Glen Maxey, (1st Gay)
2012 - Rep. Mary Gonzalez (1st Pansexual)
2004 - Lupe Valdez, Sheriff Dallas County (1st Lesbian, later ran for Governor
They (they media) REALLY have to add alot of qualifiers these days to get a "first" in their clickbait headlines.
Texas has been doing "firsts" for a LONG time. And I'm positive there are many more I missed. Houston was the largest city in the country with an LGBT Mayor until Lori Lightfoot in Chicago, and held that record for 10 years from 2009 until 2019.
Read up on Your history.
@Benjamin.
Thanks for the info. Sincerely.
I grew up in South Texas, went to Uni at Austin when Ann Richards was the Governor.
Maybe it was because as a kid I was a migrant worker, and didn’t have the privilege of your knowledge.
Things have come a long way since, so I’ll study that part of history that I missed.
But your last sentence was nothing more than being a jerk. Be proud??
Having worked for AAG, I’ve been a firm believer that AA’s growth in AUS had more to do with keeping Delta out (as AUS was proposed to become a DAL hub back in late 2018) than “growth” in Austin. Here we are 5 years later and Delta is clearly not coming to AUS…job done?
and yet AA is significantly pulling down so who actually won?
And DL is by far larger in BOS, JFK, LGA and LAX than AA just 3 years ago -far bigger prizes.
Austin Bergstrom is just a mess to begin with. No major airline can successfully expand to make it a focus city until they address the lack of capacity at the airport itself. It was very common during late 2021 and a majority of 2022 for the security to be hours long. Unacceptable.
You are right. Hate Bergstrom because of their security.
Southwest does a lot of flying to AUS, is it modifying its scheduled service or is this only an AA problem?
Who wants to sit in American’s cramped seating. Their management has put this once top-notch airline at a major disadvantage.
I lived in Austin for 5 years and that was enough. It's not big enough for big city amenities, but has all the big city problems.
The airport was a zoo and when I was living there most airlines just had service to their hubs.
The weather was also crap. 6 months of sweltering summer and then a couple of months of pleasant temps. Yet plenty of cold days during the winter.
Isn't worth a reply! Move to Minneapolis!
Then why did you reply? I can see why people would move to Austin. I can't see why anyone would like living there.
If you do live there and you like it, I'm happy for you.
Austin hasn't been weird for decades...it's just sentimental marketing jargon. I went to UT AUS when it was applicable...and maintained an office there up until last year commuting been LAX/AUS/NYC weekly...
And unfortunately I have dealt with the homeless mugging issue in the CBD once, so I do think the city has to develop a strategic plan ASAP...as do many US cities.
But there are also ongoing huge developments at the convention center, airport and...
Austin hasn't been weird for decades...it's just sentimental marketing jargon. I went to UT AUS when it was applicable...and maintained an office there up until last year commuting been LAX/AUS/NYC weekly...
And unfortunately I have dealt with the homeless mugging issue in the CBD once, so I do think the city has to develop a strategic plan ASAP...as do many US cities.
But there are also ongoing huge developments at the convention center, airport and mixed use high-rises in the CBD that will result in the downtown district larger and higher than DAL and HOU....so the airline service will ultimately return and expand.
Until Austin's liberal city council addresses the slums and bums on every street corner panhandling, people living and camping under bridges downtown, and their all day grid lock traffic the city will never progress.
As someone that has flown a few of these AA Austin routes, the main issues seems to be staffing & gate space. There are not enough gates for all these routes and had to wait a couple of times not for an open gate, but for an available gate crew. AA is also working out of gates at opposite ends if the terminal, making logistics even more challenging. I don't think it's a demand issue as much as a space & staffing issue.
Lol. Dead wrong. If the flights were profitable, they'd keep 'em.
Maybe American had a “Get Delta” strategy that didn’t work too well.
Northeast Alliance with JetBlue. Court testimony seemed to say they wanted to be a stronger competitor to Delta.
Seattle long haul buildup…attack Delta.
Austin buildup….prevent Delta from making it a strong focus city.
In the end…probably a poor way to allocate resources.
You got the liberal coast people oversell the city.
AA can't keep Austin weird.
Eskimo speaks the truth. If one more Californian tells me to move to Austin whenever I mention Texas ……
Right, like Californians talk to you. lol
Like several commenters on here, I lived in Austin for many years and am not surprised by these cuts, nor about Austin's seeming fall from grace in general.
The reality is that very little of what made Austin cool even exists anymore. The "weird" musicians who spiced up the roached-out clubs were long ago forced out of city center housing that made it possible for them to build Austin's reputation as the "Live Music Capital...
Like several commenters on here, I lived in Austin for many years and am not surprised by these cuts, nor about Austin's seeming fall from grace in general.
The reality is that very little of what made Austin cool even exists anymore. The "weird" musicians who spiced up the roached-out clubs were long ago forced out of city center housing that made it possible for them to build Austin's reputation as the "Live Music Capital of the World"; the ones that didn't leave outright are living so far south (Slaughter, or even Buda/Kyle) that most don't bother braving traffic to go into town anymore.
Those that have stayed now work in the service industry, waiting on rich people at one of Austin's soulless new restaurants, where "fancy" gastronomy has replaced the good, simple food served at spots like the Bouldin Creek Cafe, Casa de Luz and Kerbey Lane (which are still open, but are no longer "cool").
This says nothing of the fact that Austin is too hot to enjoy for over 100 days out of every summer, or that neither the road system nor the water table can support even half of the population that currently resides there.
The silver lining, for those of us who once loved Austin, is that enough "bad" years may make it affordable enough that we can one day return. But I'm not holding my breath—the Austin Inc.™ Hype Machine is relentless, and will do everything it can to prevent East Austin bungalows that once cost $60,000 from slipping below $1 market valuation.
Yup there is nothing cool about Austin anymore just look at south congress which used to be hip. cool, weird etc now its just a wannabe Dallas with Hermès, Le Labo, Equinox and other NYC/Dallas type places. So glad i went to school there before it turned into a terrible LA/NYC knockoff with all the problems of those cities but none of the benefits.
Unrelated but AA has expanded the nearby airport distance when doing an award search. While convenient on desktop because you can deselect cities, it’s a headache on mobile because you can’t and some bookable options are now left off.
For example, SFO used to just show SJC as an alternate, but now STS, MRY, and SMF show up as well. CUN now also shows CZM (which I like) and I’m sure TQO soon enough.
They’ve expanded it to an obnoxiously large radius. Searching MIA-PHL use to just include FLL (makes sense). Now I get PBI, plus EWR, BWI, MDT, LNS, and ABE on the other end. It’s made mobile searches borderline useless due to the amount of horrendous routings/alternatives they try to sell you
And the Pilot shortage......
I hated flying thru Austin making a connection. One terminal to another we had to clear security a second time. Just as well as we vowed to ourselves "Never Again!".
Not sure how that is even possible. The south terminal is super tiny, like 3 or 4 gates, and there's a clear split between which airlines fly from which terminal. The only ones flying in and out of the south terminal are the nickel and dime cheapo airlines that are not even part of codeshare alliances.
@CK - why let facts get in the way of anecdotal comment? I thought the same thing as you - no airlines fly from both terminals.
Austin is a horrible airport. Went to Europe and had to change planes both ways there. the walk was long from out gate to the BA gate. No signage what so ever. Customs is way understaffed, and the airport food is horrible.
Just FYI, what you refer to as "Customs" is actually called Immigration. Immigration is for people; customs is for items.
So what does this change mean for AA’s plan for the big, brand new lounge location at Austin? I wonder if that gets axed, too?
It’s clearly because radical far right Republican Gary Leff who cultivates the Fox News, One America News Network crowd, bullied AA enough into pulling out. He has been really mad about not getting free ride CK again, and there were no hacks to get it by “donating” things this year. Sad! Fake news! Witch hunt!
You need to turn off the cable news. You are seeing conspiracies everywhere.
Joke went straight over Brian’s head
Don’t worry, Gary will complain about the service cuts to the “legendary” admirals club stuff at AUS and get it all restored! That in exchange for more monthly write-ups about them
Austin just isn’t what it used to be.
IMHO, comparing Austin to Seattle is like comparing apples to potato chips. Covid got in the way of expanding international flying from Seattle. And the Pacific has only begun to ramp back up. Seattle, geographically, makes much more sense than LAX as a jumping=off point when flying to most of Asia. Even James J. Hill knew that when the traffic was via rail and ships.
P.S. You'll have to look up James J. Hill if you're unfamiliar with him.
It is Mr. Znotins' ADHD that is responsible for the on-again-off-again network planning. When queried by AA, I have repeatedly expressed lack of confidence in the network schedule. That lack of confidence has led to business moving to another carrier. That's what's going to kill them.
Seems like people are finally waking up to what I noticed several years ago when visiting Austin and subsequent visits since then - it sucks.
Now AA, just keep focusing on DFW which is just 10 minutes away from me. Thank you!
Dallas has way better breweries, anyways.
Huge mistake by AA, ruining what is arguably their smartest business decision since the merger.
They had the chance to stop Delta expanding in their backyard and maintain their position in Texas, only to ruin it.
AUS had sizable O/D traffic (good it tends to be more profitable), corporate traffic, state government traffic, a growing and wealthy population, a new credit card market, and provided a backup hub for DFW.
It's honestly kinda sad how...
Huge mistake by AA, ruining what is arguably their smartest business decision since the merger.
They had the chance to stop Delta expanding in their backyard and maintain their position in Texas, only to ruin it.
AUS had sizable O/D traffic (good it tends to be more profitable), corporate traffic, state government traffic, a growing and wealthy population, a new credit card market, and provided a backup hub for DFW.
It's honestly kinda sad how AA seems to give up so easily, you need to face competition head on and spend money to make money.
No airline puts a “backup hub” as close to a hub as AUS is DFW. In reality airlines do not have “backup hubs”. Multiple hubs, yes. But one hub is not a backup to another.
And housing prices are dropping and growth is slowing in AUS.
"In reality airlines do not have “backup hubs”. Multiple hubs, yes. But one hub is not a backup to another."
Nowadays no, but in the 1990s through mid 2000s, they certainly did. They just called them "relief/reliever hubs," and they were at the forefront of merger-mania. Delta swore up and down that it wouldn't shut down Cincinnati and Memphis, because they were reliever hubs to Detroit and Atlanta, until they did. American did the same...
"In reality airlines do not have “backup hubs”. Multiple hubs, yes. But one hub is not a backup to another."
Nowadays no, but in the 1990s through mid 2000s, they certainly did. They just called them "relief/reliever hubs," and they were at the forefront of merger-mania. Delta swore up and down that it wouldn't shut down Cincinnati and Memphis, because they were reliever hubs to Detroit and Atlanta, until they did. American did the same for St. Louis, until they did. And there were probably three different merger periods when USAir(ways) swore it would never shut down Pittsburgh, because it was a reliever to Philly. Until of course, they did.
Most of the examples you cite were because a “relief” hub was acquired in a merger. They were never built to be a relief - they were acquired. And the fact that these relief hubs were shut down simply proves that it is asinine to think AA was building out AUS to be a backup hub. AA was building out AUS to take on WN and DL, but not to serve as a relief or a backup.
OCTinPHL made the only valid comment in the whole chain.
ImmortalSyn: It's 2023. Not 1990.
A2220HunandSpoke: AA is NOT giving up in AUS. They are pulling back responsibly due to the bubble straight up bursting there. ATX has dripped the 2nd most in the country in many metrics. Tech jobs are being axed DAILY. Did You happen to notice that there were just as many routes cut by United, Spirit, Delta, and especially...
OCTinPHL made the only valid comment in the whole chain.
ImmortalSyn: It's 2023. Not 1990.
A2220HunandSpoke: AA is NOT giving up in AUS. They are pulling back responsibly due to the bubble straight up bursting there. ATX has dripped the 2nd most in the country in many metrics. Tech jobs are being axed DAILY. Did You happen to notice that there were just as many routes cut by United, Spirit, Delta, and especially Allegiant??? Gimme a Break.
AUS was NEVER going to be a "HUB" for ANY airline.
AA is still running service to its hubs and cities that can support the traffic (LAS, SNA,...). No point flying to OKC or NAS if the yield doesnt cover the bills. AA can always flex service such as seasonal to ski destinations. Airlines have gotten financially more disciplined to not operate money losing flights.
I think it is a reasonable cut so that AA can focus on a bit more on its connection. Currently AA’s connection really s*. More flights needed in its hub simply to make it work without an overnight transit in DFW, come on, it is a domestic flight, please do not let us spend overnight yet having to catch up an extremely early morning flight instead of enjoying DFW a bit more.
Not sure where you’re getting your “alternate facts,” but here are real ones:
- Austin tech jobs grew 26% 2021-2022, and have grown another 4.8% in 2023.
Delta and United are both adding service.
Leffheads in absolute shambles right now
Who?
The folk interested in keeping America a democratic republic.
The thing that I will miss about some of the Austin cuts, such as LIR, is clearing CBP there. I found it to be one of the easiest, quickest US ports of entry to use.
As much as I layout AA for seemingly bad or no strategy, @Goldy nailed it.
Seems like everyone here is missing the bigger picture, this isn’t “oh look AA has made missteps”.
It’s AA and other airlines are redeploying resources because of a major economic downturn that is happening in real time within both the US and the rest of the world.
Direct flights from Austin being cut are not about Austin but the larger economic data coming in that writers of points and miles blogs aren’t capable of synthesizing
While it is true that very too people in the aviation fan world can see the forest for the trees, AA's retreat at AUS is much less indicative of the larger economic picture - which you are right is developing -and much more about AA's fad-driven buildup of AUS which was not sustainable long-term.
More indicative of your point was UA exec comments on their earnings call that they do not intend to grow domestic...
While it is true that very too people in the aviation fan world can see the forest for the trees, AA's retreat at AUS is much less indicative of the larger economic picture - which you are right is developing -and much more about AA's fad-driven buildup of AUS which was not sustainable long-term.
More indicative of your point was UA exec comments on their earnings call that they do not intend to grow domestic much in the first half of 2024 and also would not add much transatlantic capacity. Factor in the TLV cuts which likely will be long-term and UA might actually be smaller transatlantic in 2024 than they were in 2023.
Given how aggressively UA has stated it will grow and the amount of new aircraft it is taking -or at least intends to if Boeing delivers them - is highly significant to the broader economic malaise.
UA's comment - which they were careful to not frame as official 2024 capacity guidance but much more likely as a signal to competitors - highlights that there is no need to grow given that ULCCs can't and the rest of the big 4 will be restrained if everyone else is rational.
As long as the Middle East doesn't blow up even worse, 2024 could be another good year for the big 4 and a refocus on fundamentals - AA's AUS buildup was not based on fundamentals but fads.
@Tim Dunn - I agree with your prediction that 2024 will be a strong year for the airlines. The wine business predicts a downturn sooner than most industries and investment grade wine has increased by a huge margin in my business this year.
interesting regarding the premium wine outlook, Donna.
The US is becoming an economy of "haves" and "have nots"
Companies that cater to the "upper tier" will be ok... others not so much
Tim - There's a lot of truth in your post. I have to give credit where credit is due.
thanks!
I've long felt that "Keep Austin Weird" should be replaced with "Austin: It Kinda Sucks"
I think the city's fate was sealed before that slogan even happened. Apart from the easy access to good breakfast tacos, there's really "no there there".
I did appreciate the unofficial slogan just south of Austin: Keep San Antonio Lame
Not sure why so many tout this as a major mis-step by American.? The flights were very full and re-deployment to other cities/routes is not a do or die situation. Regional carriers have a lot of resilience and the time frame to re-deply is very reasonable. American put Austin expansion together really quickly and can do the same where needed and where money is to be had. Nothing here to see.
TOTALLY agreed.
I agree. The misstep would be continuing to run service to 3rd tier cities from AUS that operate at a loss month over month.
Nothing to see here?? AA management is a disaster!
Honestly, as someone living in Austin, I didn’t even pay attention to a lot of these destinations that AA is cutting now. Tampa? Oklahoma City? Sacramento? Montego Bay? Destin? El Paso?!?! In most cases, I’d rather stay home than go to these destinations. I think some of these routes were for very niche purposes and given the amount of major events (and bachelorette parties, so many of them) maybe for the benefit of people living...
Honestly, as someone living in Austin, I didn’t even pay attention to a lot of these destinations that AA is cutting now. Tampa? Oklahoma City? Sacramento? Montego Bay? Destin? El Paso?!?! In most cases, I’d rather stay home than go to these destinations. I think some of these routes were for very niche purposes and given the amount of major events (and bachelorette parties, so many of them) maybe for the benefit of people living in these places rather than for the benefit of Austinites. The key routes are JFK, BOS, SAN (via Alaska), MCO, LAS, RNO (for Lake Tahoe), BNA and CUN. All routes people have a likelihood visiting more than once and that could also be interesting for business. Of course it’s sad there’s no direct route to Aspen and Nassau anymore but those are extremely expensive places that if I were to visit, I’d be fine connecting because I would be willing to splurge like that on a regular basis. Vegas, NY, LA and Orlando on the other hand are things me and my family do regularly. And from how full flights are, I’d say we’re not alone. The only route I’m somewhat sad about is Washington but AA has a hub at DCA and still chose to fly to IAD. Nobody wants to go to IAD. If they offered flights to DCA I’d be going three times a year.
AUS-DCA non-stop flight distance are "beyond the parameter", and currently only SW offer a daily flight. If AA want to offer such service, she would need to pull a DCA frequency from PHX.
With metro Silver Line now connect Washington Dulles airport to Reston and all the way to metro center station, IAD has become more passengers convenient.
Tampa used to be operated twice daily by AA (1x mainline and 1x regional) and regularly full. Southwest operate it 4x daily.
It has more passengers than Austin and is the second largest non hub airport in the US (close behind San Diego).
So not sure it is niche just because you don’t want to take your family there. Haha.
Austin has been WAYYYY oversold across the country. Is it a success story and a experiencing major growth? Yes. Did too many companies/people try to capture that growth? Yes.
Also, why isn't it being talked about that Allegiant is equally canceling flights and we'll as Spirit/United/Delta? I get the percentage is higher with AA, but LOTS of airlines are pulling back.
Also, like I've mentioned before, the Austin City Council is completely untrustworthy and...
Austin has been WAYYYY oversold across the country. Is it a success story and a experiencing major growth? Yes. Did too many companies/people try to capture that growth? Yes.
Also, why isn't it being talked about that Allegiant is equally canceling flights and we'll as Spirit/United/Delta? I get the percentage is higher with AA, but LOTS of airlines are pulling back.
Also, like I've mentioned before, the Austin City Council is completely untrustworthy and as a company I wouldn't trust them to make long term business decisions. With one Twitter fueled "vote" they will rip up a contract and go behind Your back. They are a liberal cess pool and should be taught a lesson about business. Alot of it relies on not just Your word, but Your actions.
So you believe that contracts can be arbitrarily "ripped up," but that "word" somehow alternatively matters?
That's an interesting assessment. Sorry, stood out to me.
Huh? What are You even on about. I believe in contracts that I or anyone else agrees to AND keeping Your word.
Maybe I miss typed or in my long ramblings You misunderstood me.
What I am referring too is the fact that the Austin City Council (who owns and runs the airport) ripped up a 40 year contract they negotiated and signed in 2016 to geta shiner and even newer terminal.
...Huh? What are You even on about. I believe in contracts that I or anyone else agrees to AND keeping Your word.
Maybe I miss typed or in my long ramblings You misunderstood me.
What I am referring too is the fact that the Austin City Council (who owns and runs the airport) ripped up a 40 year contract they negotiated and signed in 2016 to geta shiner and even newer terminal.
A local company named "Lonestar Airport Holdings" spent nearly $100 Million Dollars to built up the South Terminal for new passengers, over 100k a year actually fly out of this Terminal, ULCC's Frontier & Allegiant mainly operate out of there. In 2019 that all changed when the ATX City Council decided to not honor its contract and then sent a paltry 1.75 million to "compensate" and said "we're not going to work with Y'all for the 37 years we have left, AND kick Y'all put of the Terminal Y'all built, AND we'll use imminent domain and snatch your land and property from You if You don't agree to this."
Needless to say, they got sued, are still in court over this, and it will be YEARS before it's resolved (all on the taxpayers back mind You).
ATX flyers and travelers always wonder why certain announced new lounges haven't opened yet, why certain airlines stopped expanding or pulled back, why long term investment seems to be not happening from the private sector there.....Well there is Your answer. Chase and United and Amex and AA don't want to spend tens of millions and invest in the long term at a place where they could just have it ripped away with no or little compensation.
ATX City Council needs a wake up call.
They also decided to prevent CFA from opening at AUS a while back purely over CFA's perceived views, which is blatantly illegal.
They have actually come to a settlement with Lonestar. The issue appears to be resolved.
Ummm, they already settled the LoneStar Holdings lawsuit. It is complete. It won't be 'stuck in court for years', but don't let that stand in the way of a good diatribe.
This probably has less to do with Austin and more to do with AA. And a lot of those were real ‘dogs and cats” routes rather than ones with wide appeal.
A large portion of these were leisure cities, which are typically not very high yield in the first place. For the rest of the cities that are smaller markets, there was simply no need for them to be served nonstop from AUS when DFW is right up the road. (I’m actually surprised RNO made the cut, but maybe Reno is subsidizing the route?). Yet another AA miss.
RNO is strictly for Tesla traffic. I am also surprised though - apparently the Musk-cult chodeboys provide enough butts in seats to keep the route, whereas AA axed RNO-LAX, an actually useful route.
If memory serves, a number of them like VPS were once a week leisure-geared flights designed to line up with condo/short term rental changeover day. So possibly not as drastic as it first looks.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more route announcements in the NYC area. Now the alliance with JetBlue is dead, they need to rebuild their own network.
I was thinking the same thing. Hard for me to get to JFK out of SAN. It’s essentially a dead hub for a TATL a flight.
@Donna, but out of curiosity, why would you care?
If you're based in SAN and loyal to AA.... what does a 1stop to diminished JFK offer you in terms of TATL, that connecting in DFW, ORD, or MIA doesn't?
Routes in the NYC and DC area are getting cut due to lack of ATC. Most of the routes there can be handled easily by train anyway
With Austin quickly becoming a major United hub, my view is that American is running scared and withdrawing from the market.
LOL, okay. United's actually "Major" HUB is even CLOSER than AA's in Houston. This has everything to do with the current downturn in Austin Tech jobs, the Midfield Concourse, AND how the ATX City Council is untrustworthy and can't be relied upon for long term contracts. But sure, AA is running scared to the 2nd Largest HUB in the world just 3 hours drive and 40 min flight up the road.....
With Austin quickly becoming a major United hub
You've made some really strange claims over the last few days, and this one's no exception.
There's zero evidence that AUS "becoming a United hub" at all, much less a "major" one.
ConcordeBoy - I thimk you're the king of "strange claims" - United serves nearly 10 destinations from AUS - many of which service has began within the last 5 years. Dink, anyway you look at it - AUS is becoming a United hub.
AUS was a quick pandemic play by American to redeploy capacity to a fast-growing metro, take on Southwest's dominant position, and try to block Delta's stated plans to build a focus city in Austin.
It is doubtful the flying was ever fully profitable and as AA's system recovers and the cost of regional flying increases, those aircraft need to be redeployed elsewhere. For the 19th time, AA will probably try to rebuild its schedules...
AUS was a quick pandemic play by American to redeploy capacity to a fast-growing metro, take on Southwest's dominant position, and try to block Delta's stated plans to build a focus city in Austin.
It is doubtful the flying was ever fully profitable and as AA's system recovers and the cost of regional flying increases, those aircraft need to be redeployed elsewhere. For the 19th time, AA will probably try to rebuild its schedules at LGA and JFK so it does not lose its slots; thankfully for them, the slot exemptions give them a year to slowly add schedules.
Neither DL or WN jumped onto the bandwagon of trying to chase AA in AUS and both are more comfortable in their previous positions than ever.
DL being comfortable in their positions? Yeah, basically because they had no position to start with.
Flew LAS-DCA this week with AA, such a subpar experience even with status, glad I booked IAD-LAS on United the way back, even if Dulles is a bit further out from where I am.
And your comment has exactly nothing to do with Austin.
AA, has no strategy. They just throw things against the wall and see if they stick. They have no longer term plan to fix there International dearth of profits and they have no plan to fix their hubs that leave them weak on the West Coast and in the NE, two of the largest population areas of the country. But, I am certain they will come up with a new credit card scheme soon.
I live in Austin. I travel for work and fly out of there every week. The airport is beyond busy. I don’t think we have the gate space for American to have a mini hub in Austin. I’m a United 1K er but fly American occasionally and have waited 30 plus minutes for a gate many times after arriving. Until they expand with the mid field concourse I think this is a good idea.
Znotins is the name of AA's head of network planning. He is very much "Let's try this. No, let's try that." Such frequent change is emblematic of an incompetent manager. The aircrews who have to live with these changes scratch their heads.
They do have a strategy… Fortress hubs in DFW, MIA, PHX and PHL.
The problem is that they need a better strategy in the competitive corporate metros: NYC, BOS, LA, CHI and DC. DCA is doing OK and a fortress hub, CHI they are holding on, but LA, NYC and BOS have arguably failed…NYC probably being the most concerning and the NEA was a poor strategy and got blown apart by the courts.
That’s disappointing. Enjoyed the Tampa, Las Vegas & Raleigh directs.
TPA is the only city of TPA/LAS/RDU that is cut. AUS-RDU and AUS-LAS sticking around